flickr.com/knittycat


Tips & Techniques for Knitting theknittycat's Peeps and Other Toys

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Happy St. Patty's Day - Something Green - the Hulk!

Happy St. Patty's Day Everyone!  

Yep, I missed Valentine's Day... I'll try to post a few Valentine's things in an Easter post...
(crossing fingers that I feel up to that).

Here's a Big something Green for St. Patrick's Day

Marvel Comic's The Incredible Hulk for Matt's Birthday with Lambie Pie







Marvel Comics the Incredible Hulk! for Matt's Birthday, with his best bud, Lambie Pie... ;o)

Our nephew, Matt, had been wanting a Hulk, since I started making these peeps, but I could never bring myself to make one... But, when I ordered a variety of green yarns to get the right shade for something I was making, one of them arrived and I said... Omigosh... it's Hulk green! And I already had some bluish purple that would work for pants... so there I was, making the Hulk! :o) I intended to make him a LOT smaller, but he just happened! ... these things have a life of their own.







I actually finished him just a day before Matt's birthday (Whew!), last September! But I could never decide which photos to post, so he's been languishing, waiting to be seen. He's not really my cup of tea, with his angry face. I like CUTSEY things! With sweet smiles! But he was a challenge, and I learned a lot of things while making him that are useful in other projects, as well. Lambie Pie says that he's much sweeter and nicer than he looks.



One of my fellow amigurumi artists said "he's not angry, just having a bad face day, I guess". heh heh
And that's how I'm looking at him from now on! ;o)

He's not cross-eyed, by the way, just a trick of the camera, and the reflectiveness of the eyes, I guess.

He's the largest peep I've made at 15" tall and nearly as wide! And he's knitted in one piece from toes to top of head, and then each of his arms knitted in one piece, from fingers to shoulders, and sewn onto the torso. I did make notes while working on him, so hopefully I will be able to share the techniques that I discovered, and developed, in the future.



You probably can't tell from my photos, but the waist of his pants is ragged and ripped looking, with a scrap of white shirt left stuck in it, and the hems on the pant legs are ripped. I didn't do a good job of capturing that in the pics, unfortunately. Didn't have him for long after finishing him, and had to take the pics in a hurry.



I'm kind of fanatical about not wanting to attach pieces, as you might have noticed, and I was pretty tickled with the method I finagled for making his torn up waist, and hems on his pants, with my trusty knitting needles, all in one piece with his body, and never having to sew any bits on! YAY! Too bad it shows up so poorly on the pics.

Also, I found a new and very simple method of making hair while working on Miss Piggy, for my DH (she's still not finished, unfortunately, so obviously not posted), and I used it to make the Hulk's hair. It's a really versatile technique, and very easy to do, too. You can make short or long hair using this method. I hope to write up a tutorial for it at some point. Or I will at least post a simple description of the process. As long as you use an eyelash or fuzzy yarn of some sort, appropriate to your project, it is super easy to do! And I do like easy! :o)




Happy St. Patty's Day!





Lots more Peeps photos to be found at http://www.flickr.com/knittycat
and Pudge photos at http://www.flickr.com/anthor

Thursday, December 25, 2008

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 2008



We wish all of you a Joyful and Loving holiday
and a new year filled with Peace and Love


Christmas Peeps




Christmas knittycat for theknittycat






a Christmas kittycat for theknittycat 








Lovey Dovey - the Christmas Dove for D




Lovey Dovey the Christmas Dove for my DH




and Pudge photos at http://www.flickr.com/anthor


Saturday, July 26, 2008

Springtime Peeps! And a new Flying Piggy Pattern!


Lots more Peeps photos to be found at http://www.flickr.com/knittycat 
and Pudge photos at http://www.flickr.com/anthor


After the last post, filled with what I haven't completed, 
I thought it would be nice to show you some of what I HAVE completed lately:

It's been a very PINK spring!  :o)

We have two very Pink Ballerinas:

Pippa Potomus for Mia's Birthday

Pippa Potamus for Mia's birthday - holding hands

Pippa Potamus for Mia's birthday - en pointe - with help


Pippa Potamus for Mia's birthday - the end
The End





and Katerina Kitty Ballerina for Kristina's Birthday

Katerina Kitty Ballerina for Kristina's Birthday in my Hand


Katerina Kitty Ballerina for Kristina's Birthday - back
Katerina Kitty Ballerina for Kristina's Birthday



Katerina rehearsing for her debut! 









Pippa and Katerina are cousins and have a lot in common 
- they both love pink and they both love to dance!
They're very good friends, too!  :o)

Katerina Kitty Ballerina with her cousin Pippa Potomus

Katerina Kitty Ballerina with her cousin Pippa Potomus



and we also introduce:

Kermie 2 for Kristina's Birthday (okay, okay, he's not pink!)

Kermit THE Frog - Kermie 2 for Kristina - with frog legs

Kermit THE Frog - Kermie 2 for Kristina - with frog legs


Kermie 2 and Katerina are very close 


Kermie 2 & Katerina for Kristina -  Arm in Arm            and they enjoy strolling and chatting


Kermie 2 & Katerina for Kristina chatting






Kermie 2 & Katerina for Kristina - Advice from her big brother











 Katerina often goes to Kermie 2 for advice from her big brother


Kermie 2 & Katerina for Kristina - Family  Portrait



















Also not pink:
a sparkly little Marisa Mousie for Jill

Marisa Le Mousie for Jill



Marisa Le Mousie in my hand

















And before that I made...
the Peep that we've fallen in love with...  I ordered some cool new yarn to try - Moda Dea Fur Sure, and when I saw this lovely yellow fuzzy stuff, it just cried out to be a...

Peepsie Peep!

We've fallen in love with a Peep!

We've fallen in love with a Peep!


We're all crazy about her and so glad that she was an experiment with the new yarn, and not a gift for anyone, so we get to KEEP her!  YAYAYAY!!!

We've fallen in love with a Peep!



Peepsie says "Peeep!"  Which means, "Hi!"


Pudgie Loves Peepsie!

Pudgie loves Peepsie Too!  :o)



And here's...

Mossalia the wee Mermaid - my first mermaid experiment. I LOOOOOVE mermaids! :o)


You can see that I caught her (carefully) barehanded. We did not keep her, of course, but had a nice chat, took some photos, said "goodbye", and watched her swim away beneath the waves.





















 And we can't forget the comic fans amongst our ranks...  (okay, I'm one of them, I admit it.)

Marvel Comics' the Human Torch.
FLAME ON!

















 
- my impressionistic interpretation - for Matt. :o)

He's quite small (prox 3 1/2" not counting flames, 4" with flames).
I think he kind of looks like a fire elemental. :o)

Knitted on size 2 needles with Senso size 3 crochet thread. Flames crocheted in strips and sewn to body.






And A NEW PATTERN!!!

if you have been saving up things to do "When Pigs Fly"....  The Time has Come!

We have a Pink Flying Piggy!


Petunia Phlying Piglet



Petunia Phlying Piglet - the flying piggy for Dorothy

Complete with an easy pattern to make her! To make Petunia, I came up with a new (as far as I can determine) idea for making the legs of a 4-legged peep, all in one, along with the rest of the body. She’s knit in the round, all in one piece (except for wings of course), including legs, ears and tail and just stitching the sides of the legs and ears together when the knitting is done. A nice easy project. I really enjoyed making her! :o)

Pattern for Petunia Phlying Piglet can be found here!




Petunia Phlying Piglet - the flying piggy for Dorothy - Ready for Take Off!


More about Petunia and the Loopy Legs Technique in the next post! (which won't be too long away, I hope, because it's nearly finished!)

Hope you are all having a lovely summer! Lots of fun in the sun (with your sunscreen of course) and playing at the beach, and BBQ's, and happy times! :o) Stay Cool! (I sooo want to put "Dudes" here! heh heh)